All Just Pretend
by ablala2
Summary: How far could he go to get his dream job? Jeremy Matthews, assistant editor-in-chief of the New Jersey Times, is offered the job as editor-in-chief. He only needs one thing.. a wife. A fake one, that is. And who better to play the part than his own assistant, who hates him. What happens when they see different sides to each other? Lightly based on The Proposal. Summary sucks, read!
1. Introduction

I know, I haven't updated my other story and I shouldn't be starting a new one, but I think this one will be a good story (-:

This story was mainly inspired by the movie "The Proposal", which I think is such a great and funny movie. If you haven't watched it, I recommend you do! I don't want to make this story exactly like it, so I'll be adding my own ideas to it. I just love the movie, so I decided to write my own version, but this time, the girl is the pissed off assistant and the guy is the jerk boss. I think it's better that way because I just find it sweet when the guy who was a jerk to a girl, and everyone else, becomes the guy the girl wants to be with because she sees a different side of him for the time they spent together, away from work related stuff. We all know I just looooove Nicole Anderson, and she's so pretty, so of course she's the main character! I think all of my stories will be about her, unless I say it's not going to be. BUT just imagine her with her long hair when reading it. Seriously I love her short hair, but I think she pulls off long-ish hair better. Just my opinion. And I know, I usually write Nacy, but I know that the two of them are never going to happen because of that Olivia girl he's with. Don't get me wrong, she's gorgeous with all that make-up, but now she looks all weird. And I don't really like her. BROCK KELLY, on the other hand, he's a different story. He's so cute! And I think he'd be a great pair with Nicole Anderson in real life. If you haven't seen him, he was in Ravenswood with Nicole, but they never really had any scenes together. Or look him up! Trust me, you will not be disappointed by his straight teeth and hazel eyes. ;) Excuse any typos or mistakes, I'm not perfect. But I just really hope you guys enjoy my take on this type of storyline! xxoo

P.S. seriously, go look up who Brock Kelly is :p

And here we goooooo!


	2. She's My Fiancee

Friday morning, she wakes up to see that her alarm clock did not go off. 7:22 A.M. Lacey quickly jumped out of bed to catch up to her normal routine and get to the office before he does. Once she had her blazer and pencil skirt on, she rushed out the door and headed out to Starbucks like every other day. She knew she had to get the usual coffee her jerk of a boss always made her run out to get. The past year and a half had consisted of her making her way to the same Starbucks that was on her way to work; one caramel mocha for her, and a plain latte for him. She gets in line and sees how busy it is. She could scream at how annoyed she was, especially since she was running late, but that cute employee just so happened to save the day.

"Lace!" Ian flashed her a smile as she walked past everyone else waiting in line.

"Thanks, Ian." She started to get out her wallet when he stopped her.

"No, it's on me." Her shoulders dropped as she chuckled.

"Are you sure?" Lacey questioned. He nodded.

"Positive. Anything for you." She smirked at him and grabbed the two coffees.

"I owe you one, Ian. Thanks again!" Lacey smiled as she turned away. She couldn't help but smile as she walked out to get to the office, hopefully, on time.

* * *

Friday morning, Jeremy stood in front of the microwave waiting for his breakfast to finish up so he can start getting ready for work. He showers, gets into his suit, grabs everything he needs and heads out the door. He walked past the jogger guy with his little poodle and makes his way towards the elevator of his condo. Once the elevator opens, that cute girl from 8C walks out of the elevator and smiled at him, making him grin and raise his eyebrows. He can't help it if he's good looking. Once he's out of the condo totally, he pulls out the keys to his Beamer and drives out the parking lot. He gets to work and looks at the clock. 8:16 A.M. Jeremy sighed and continued to enter the building. It doesn't matter if he's late. He's the assistant editor-in-chief of the New Jersey Times.

"Morning Mr. Matthews." The receptionist shyly said to him. He nodded with no smile, just a serious face. One of the many reasons why almost everyone was afraid of him. He was probably one of the meanest people here at work. Once everyone sees him walk through the offices, they all stop what they're doing and get back to "work". Everyday is the same; mainly because everyone is scared that he'll fire them.

"Good morning." Lacey placed her drink on his desk. He somewhat smiled at her, taking a seat at his desk turning to his computer. She turned around and took in a deep breathe, considering the fact that she got there probably 15, maybe 10 seconds before he did. The only thing she hated most was being late anywhere, but the thing she hated most was her boss.

"Morning Ms. Ford." He opened up his email, reading the words "Meeting at 8:45, Scholer Room."

"Mr. Matthews, I wanted to talk to you about my week vacation.. You told me you would let me know when I could take it yesterday, but you left early for a meeting with Mr. Cooper." Lacey turned around to face him and by the way he was gathering his things, she could tell he didn't hear a word she had just said. She wanted a long week vacation away from the asshole she called boss, and she was tired of the constant paper work being piled onto her desk every week.

"Do you know what this meeting's about?" Jeremy fixed his coat and raised an eyebrow waiting for her to respond.

She sighed lightly. "..Right, the meeting. Something about the CEO coming in to check on things."

Jeremy nodded his head and grabbed his drink. He took a sip and took a few steps towards the door before looking back at Lacey. "A caramel mocha?" Lacey's eyes widened; she must've grabbed the wrong drink when she rushed into his office.

"I thought maybe you'd like to try something else..?" She smiled sheepishly at him before he walked towards her and handed her the drink.

Once everyone in the cubes saw the door to Mr. Matthews' office fling open, they all move out of his way, stop conversing with one another, and make it seem as if they've been working nonstop. Some of the female workers giggle as he fixes his tie; they were in love with him ever since he walked into the office. If only they saw the side of him Lacey saw every single day. He was an ass, who thought only about himself. All of those girls who stopped what they were doing once they saw him would actually fight Lacey for her position. Lacey didn't see what those other girls saw though. Deep down inside Mr. Matthews was a cold interior that no one ever saw, besides her.

He walks past each cubicle and can tell that almost everyone is afraid. The sports writer, Andrew, somewhat bravely walks by Jeremy, trying to greet him.

"Good morning, sir." But Jeremy wasn't in the mood for talking. He just lifted his head towards Andrew and kept on going. Andrew could've peed his pants by the way Jeremy looked at him.

Lacey quickly ran to her desk with the rest of the cubes and quickly sent out a message to everyone else. "Gave him the wrong drink. Might be in a bad mood, but when is he not?!" Everyone looked over to her desk and chuckled a bit. It was true, when was he ever not in a bad mood?

Jeremy practically made Lacey's life a living hell, with all the coffee runs, stacks of papers he leaves on her desk on random days, never listening to her ideas, the list goes on. He made almost everyone else's lives miserable as well, but Lacey just so happened to be chosen as his assistant.

* * *

"Ahh, Mr. Jeremy Matthews." The CEO, Mr. Brad Haley, of the New Jersey Times greeted Jeremy by shaking his hand.

Jeremy lent out his hand as well, "How are you doing Mr. Haley?" Mr. Haley took a seat at the rarely-used desk and motioned for Jeremy to sit down.

"I'm doing well. I called a meeting today because I wanted to promote you up to editor-in-chief, if that's alright with you?" Jeremy's face brightened up.

"Editor-in-Chief? What about Marcus?" Jeremy asked while adjusting himself in his seat. Marcus Finley was the Editor-in-Chief of NJT, and Jeremy had always dreamed of being moved up to such an honorary position.

Mr. Haley laughed, "Marcus? I fired him this morning." Jeremy's eyes widened at the words 'fired him this morning'.

"Wha-why? What happened?" He was confused. It seemed as if Marcus was doing a pretty good job, but Jeremy loved the idea of becoming editor. THE editor.

"Nevermind that boy! The only things you need in order to get the position is on this piece of paper." Mr. Haley handed Jeremy the paper. He practically had the job right in his hands! He started to read the criteria out loud.

"Have a house, check. Have my own car, check. Be married... uhm." Jeremy looked up at his boss and could not believe he had to be married in order to get the job. "Mr. Haley, I-"

"You're married, aren't you Jeremy?" Mr. Haley sat more forward and waited for him to respond.

"I, I-uh.." Jeremy started to say when the door suddenly opened.

"Sorry to bother you two men," Lacey stood there at the door smiling at the two. Jeremy stood up from his chair and took a few steps toward Lacey. "I have that article on the new building waiting for your approval, we need it to be approved by ten this morning."

Jeremy then remembered what Lacey was saying while they were in his office. '_I wanted to talk to you about my week vacation.. You told me you would let me know when I could take it yesterday, but you left early for a meeting with Mr. Cooper.'__  
_

"Lacey, here, she's my fiancee, Mr. Haley." Lacey's eyes became huge as Jeremy said what he just said. He placed his arm over her shoulder and have a convincing smile to Lacey and Mr. Haley.

"Really? Well, why didn't you say so!" Mr. Haley stood up and walked over to the two. "So when are you two getting married?"

"Uhm I-" Lacey started before being interrupted by her "fiance".

"-We're still planning it, Mr. Haley, aren't we?" Jeremy looked at Lacey with nervous eyes.

"Yeah.." Lacey looked back at him, confused as ever. "We still are, Mr. Haley." Lacey took in a deep gulp. _What was happening here?_

"And we're actually going to visit my family tomorrow for our week vacation together, isn't that right?" Her eyes widened; he actually did hear what she said back in his office.

Lacey nodded excessively and looked over to Mr. Haley who was smiling at the two. "Right! I sure can't wait to meet his family!" Lacey plastered a fake smile onto her face, which had Mr. Haley believing this whole scenario.

"Well I hope you two have a great time! But please tell me it's happening soon, so I can give you the job already!" Mr. Haley laughed. "I'd hate to wait a year!" He continued to laugh.

"Don't worry Mr. Haley.." Jeremy bit his lip trying to think of a solution. "It won't be that long."

"Good, because I'd hate to give the position to someone else!" Lacey stood there in confusion and Jeremy had a look on his face that basically said 'What did I just get myself into?' "Listen, Jeremy, I'll give you a month, and I'm really sorry but if you two aren't married by then, I'll have to give the job to someone else." Mr. Haley smiled at Jeremy and gave him a little pat on the shoulder before leaving.

Jeremy walked out of the office, leaving Lacey behind to follow. They both reached his office a few minutes later. Once the doors were closed, Lacey finally asked him what he was asking himself.

"What the hell was that?!" She crossed her arms and waited for him to answer. He gave her the same serious look he gave to everyone else. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?! Why would you tell him that we're getting married?"

He sat back into his seat and sighed, "Listen, I told Mr. Haley that because he offered me a job and one of the three things I needed.. was to be married."

"So you took the chance to say you were once I opened the door? Oh my gosh.." She slipped into the chair in front of him and covered her face with her hands.

"I said we were engaged, no big deal." Jeremy continued to type on his computer.

"Yes, big deal! He thinks we're getting married! What's gonna happen when you tell him that you're not, huh?" Lacey had never carried on such a conversation with her boss, let alone a conversation about being engaged to him.

"Here's the thing; we're not going to tell him we're not engaged because I want that job. As a matter of fact, I need that job. We're going to go through with this or, or.."

"Or what? You'll fire me?" Lacey stared at Jeremy and was surprised to see him nod his head.

"Yeah, I'll fire you." Jeremy grabbed the latte that was supposed to be his and started to drink it. "And I know you need this job, because I can hear you when you talk to your little cube friends about how you need your job to pay for rent, or pay for your car. This job practically gets you through the day."

"You cannot be serious.." Lacey whispered to herself as she rubbed temples with her fingers. This was bringing on a major headache.

"Exactly, so we are going through with it." Lacey didn't say a word, she honestly couldn't believe this type of situation was happening, or would ever happen, to her.

"Are you serious? You think I'd actually want to spend my week vacation with you? Hahahaha!" Lacey giggled to herself, "No, no, that is not happening." She pointed a finger at him but he shot her the same serious look everyone was so afraid of.

"I'm dead serious. I want to make it seem like we really are engaged so I can get the job." Lacey rolled her eyes as he continued to talk. "Have you ever wanted a job so bad that you'd do anything to get it?" She ignored him. "Well, it's always been a dream of mine, so if this is what it takes, then I'm doing this."

Lacey, who looked so uninterested in what her boss just said to her, glanced over at the clock on the wall. 9:37 A.M. She got up and headed towards the door.

"Fine, but I want something in return.." She thought for a second, pacing back and forth.

"What now? You're already my fiancee. What more could you want?" He smirked at her as she rolled her eyes, as she did at almost everything he said ever since he started working there.

"Pay raise, or I'm not doing it." She crossed her arms and waited for his reply. Once he finally nodded, she couldn't believe she was agreeing to such a horrendous task.

"Done. Now let's get back to work, Ms. Ford." He continued to scribble on his work papers and type on his keyboard.

"GD needs that article approved by ten, don't forget." Lacey put her hand on the doorknob before being turning around for the last time.

"You never told me where we're going." She looked over at him. He focused his attention away from his work and turned it towards her.

"Westfir, Oregon. We get to the airport 7:30 in the morning, flight leaves at 8:00. Don't be late, like this morning." She scoffed at him, then left the room. Jeremy grimaced as he turned to face his computer and got back to work.


	3. Get on One Knee and Propose

"Westfir, Oregon? Why haven't I ever heard of it?" Lacey whispered to herself as she pulled her suitcase along the airport. She pulled out her phone and looked up the gate she was supposed to meet Mr. Matthews at. "G5..G5.."

She looked up and saw him sitting in the waiting area, talking on his cell phone. It was probably work related, like always. She walked closer to him as he continued to talk.

"I'll have one of the columnists get that to him as soon as possible. And that file should be placed in my box after it's been reviewed, alright? Okay, thanks." he hung up the phone an placed it back in his pocket. Lacey took a seat next to him.

"You're late." Jeremy looked at his watch, and continued to shake his leg.

"Oh, relax Mr. Bossman. I'm here, right? And don't you ever take a break from your suit and ties?" She looked Mr. Matthews up and down. He wore the usual white collared long sleeve with a simple black tie.

"You know, you could at least try and dress up for this." She was offended by his statement. She wore her hair up in a pony tail, a white tee with some cuffed jeans, and her cute single strap heels that she wore almost everywhere.

"I happen to think what I'm wearing is very cute and appropriate for pretending to be your fiancee!" He said nothing to her, which made her a bit angry and hurt that he wasn't grateful of her being there to help him in such a crisis.

They sat there mostly in silence for about ten minutes, and in those ten long and agonizing minutes, Lacey started to have second thoughts on this. She was thinking about getting up and leaving him right then and there!

_He probably won't even notice me leaving.. He's just sitting there on his phone! I could practically get up and he wouldn't see me run out of here!_

"Honey, could you get me some coffee? You know, the usual." He took his eyes off his phone to look at her, and saw that she was about to explode. It was most likely the nerves. "Ms. Ford, my coffee?" She ignored him, her mind somewhere else.

Of course he would be telling her to get him some coffee, typical Jeremy Matthews. She honestly couldn't take it. Forcing her to do this, and treating her like a slave! _He can get his own damn coffee for all I care!_

With that, she picked up her bags and started to walk off. How in the hell could she spend one whole week with such a horrible human being?! Exactly, she couldn't.

Jeremy got up and grabbed her arm, making her face him, "Where are you going?" He raised an eyebrow as she brushed off his grasp.

_Crap. He did notice._

"Home." She looked up at him as his eyes pleaded her not to leave.

"Come on, we had a deal. I give you a raise and you pretend to be my fiancee for a week."

"Maybe I wouldn't have the urge to leave if you were actually nice to me! I am your pretend fiancee and you should act like you love me or something in order for this to work!" She continued to start walking away when he called out for her.

"Ms. Ford! Wait!" He caught up with her and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry.. I'm just.. I'm stressing out."

"You wanna know what will make me forgive you?" Lacey smirked at him which made him furrow his brows.

"What?"

"Get on one knee and propose to me." She smiled at him as he rolled his eyes.

"You can't be serious right now.."

Lacey stood in front of her boss and shrugged at him. She started picking up her bags, but before she could even take a step forward, he grabbed one of her hands and slowly, looking around, got on his right knee.

"I can't believe you're making me do this.." He muffled quickly to her as she smirked down at him.

"Well, believe it!" She giggled as he shook his head towards the ground.

People started to gather around the two as the scene started to unfold. Everyone started smiling as they knew what was taking place, or what they thought was taking place. The two of them heard a bunch of "awww's" and some claps here and there.

"Lacey will you marry me." Jeremy said in the most bored voice ever.

She looked at him seriously. "I don't think a girl would say yes to you with that kind of tone and attitude." He sighed, annoyed. "Just saying."

He held her hand tighter and looked up at her. It was a look she never got from her asshole-boss, and a look she has never seen him wear so well. His hazel eyes looked right into her light brown eyes, "Lacey Ford, will you do me the honor of marrying me?" His smile was something foreign to her, which made her kind of speechless!

"I-I.." Lacey stuttered as Jeremy waited for her to say yes, so he can hurry up and get off the floor and back to his seat. He nudged her with his eyes as she came back to reality that this was just pretend. For a job.

What was she thinking?! There was no way in hell she was thinking about her boss in a different way! Especially after how he's treated her at the company for a year and a half. He treated her basically like a servant! But right now, at that very moment, it was like he was never that person to her at all. He seemed so genuine and nice, but after realizing it was just for show, she knew she could never, ever think of him in such a way ever again. She made a pact to herself that she won't grow feelings for him over this trip. _Pfffft, like if she ever wanted to._

"Lacey.. just say it already.." He whispered to her so no one would suspect anything.

"What?" She then looked up at the crowd they pulled in with their little scene, "Oh.." She cleared her throat, "Of course, Jeremy!" He got up and hugged her, and she did the same back, and everyone thought it was the sweetest thing ever! Too bad for them, it was just pretend.

Once everyone started to go their separate ways, the two let go of each other. Lacey straightened her shirt out and headed back to where they were sitting. Jeremy watched her walk the other way, when he noticed something different about her. Maybe it was that smile she smiled when she looked at him. She never smiled at him, and he never knew why. Maybe she felt the same way the others did every time he walked into the room at the office. No, it wasn't that, because she wasn't afraid of him. And when they hugged, she had this scent, a good scent. It smelled like vanilla, and as she walked away, he kind of wished she didn't because he liked the smell of it. _Wait, what?!_ Jeremy shook his head quickly, and it was like he woke up from a day dream. Was he really thinking of his own assistant that way? Of course not, why would he?

"Flight G5 is now boarding to Portland, Oregon." The overhead went off and the two of them started to make their way to the plane's tunnel entrance.

"I hope you like long plane rides." Jeremy said as the flight attendant took their tickets.

"Wait.. what?" She asked as he kept walking, chuckling to himself. "Great... I get to spend how many hours on a plane ride with my wonderful boss!" She said to herself and then put her hand to her forehead, "I hope I can handle this." She then followed behind him, practically dragging herself.

* * *

She sat herself down next to the window and could not believe she was riding on a plane! She didn't travel much, I mean, she was only 23, she had plenty of time to travel around. But she couldn't believe her first plane ride was with a jackass she could not stand. Although she has dealt with him for more than a year already.

Jeremy put their bags in the luggage compartments above their heads, then placed his work suitcase underneath his seat.

"Please fasten your seat belts everyone, we will be departing soon." The pilot instructed everyone to do so. Lacey finally managed to put her seat belt together then let out a huge breath.

Jeremy looked over at her and raised an eyebrow, "Are you okay Ms. Ford?" The look on Lacey's face was far from okay.

"Y-yeah, of course, why would I not be?" She held onto her arm rest, and it was like her whole back was stuck to the chair.

"You look like you're going to puke." He answered her, and she smiled at him nervously. "Is this your first plane ride?" He looked at her, surprised that a girl like Lacey had never been on a plane before.

"Maybe it is?" He stared her down until she confessed. "Okay, this is my first plane ride and I am terrified of heights. I never really got out of New Jersey." Her body became less tense and she took a few deep breaths in and out before becoming a little more relaxed with the fact that she was going up way in the sky.

"We are now departing. Make sure all electronic devices are turned off and that you have your seat belt fastened. Happy flying." The pilot said for the last time as the plane started moving.

Lacey felt nauseous, nervous, and scared. "I'm gonna die." She turned to Jeremy, "I'm gonna die, and it's all thanks to you! You know, if you hadn't forced me to pretend to be your fake fiancee, I wouldn't be going through this right n-" Just then, Jeremy grabbed her hand.

"You'll be okay." She looked at her hand which was underneath his. "Now just stop saying you're gonna die, you're scaring the little kid in the row next to us." He quickly let go of her hand.

_'I bet he was just trying to get me to shut up by holding my hand', _Lacey thought to herself. The plane started to move faster, and started to go upwards, causing Lacey's eyes to widen up more than they already were.

"Wait, I don't even know your parents or sibling's names! And what if they ask me something about you that I should know the answer too?"

"My mother's name is Jenna, I have one brother, his name is Jake. I moved to New York when I was 20, went to NYU, got my bachelor's, and got a job as assistant editor-in-chief at the New Jersey Times paper." He said quickly so he could go to sleep already.

Just then, one of the flight attendants came by with a pillow. "Here you go, sir." She walked off and Jeremy placed the pillow behind his head. "Alright, I'll see you in 6 hours, Ms. Ford." He closed his eyes as she turned to him in shock.

"6 hours on this plane?! Oh my god.." She placed her hands over her face.

"I told you it was going to be a long ride. Just relax." He grabbed something from his suitcase and handed her some medicine. "Take this, you'll be sleeping like a baby in no time." He placed it on her palm and she looked at it.

"This is a trap, isn't it, Mr. Matthews? You're trying to poison me!" She gave him a dirty look as he took one himself.

"Just take it." He gave her a cold look back and handed her a water bottle.

"Okay.. but if I wake up feeling all crazy and start seeing things, I'm blaming you." She swallowed the pill and waited for it to take over her body.

"Now, just stop complaining and close your eyes." Jeremy closed his eyes and started to drift to sleep. He did this plenty of times, so he was used to it.

Lacey looked out the window and saw how far up they were. She kept telling herself over and over again that she was going to die! She shut her eyes closed and kept them closed until she fell asleep...

* * *

"I'll get it.. to him.. seven thirty..." Lacey mumbled in her sleep. She quickly woke up to the sun shining brightly through the airplane window. Looking at her watch, she noticed that it was 1:30. "I can't believe I slept through most of the plane ride." She threw her head back to where it was once leaning on, then she noticed she wasn't exactly leaning on a pillow but Jeremy's shoulder instead. Lacey slowly moved her head away from it and looked at him. He was fast asleep, snoring and everything. His mouth was slightly opened which, in Lacey's point of view, made him look adorable.

_'No, no, no! He is not adorable! He is a huge jerk who treated you like crap for almost two years already. Get yourself together, Lacey!' _She mentally slapped herself as she shook her head.

Just then, Jeremy started to move around and finally woke up. He yawned and stretched a little, then turned to Lacey, who was staring out the window.

"See, it wasn't that bad, was it?" Jeremy rubbed his eyes.

"I only look calm because that guy on the other side of the plane keeps staring at me, and I don't want to face that way." She said still focusing outside of the plane. Jeremy looked over to see some guy in his late 20's, somewhat good looking, but not as good looking as himself, peeping over at Lacey here and there.

Suddenly, the guy got up and walked over to their section. He stood next to Jeremy as he looked over at Lacey.

"Can I help you?" Jeremy glared at him, but he paid no attention to Jeremy, instead, he was focused on the brunette sitting next to him. _Of course_.

"Hi, I'm Ryan. I just wanted to say hi, and wow, you are so beautiful." All Lacey could think was _'How corny!', _but she was flattered at the compliment._  
_

She faced his way a little, and smiled. "Thanks, that's very nice of you." Ryan smiled back at her, not looking away. All of a sudden, Jeremy felt something inside of him kick into high gear.

"Hi, I'm Jeremy, her fiance." He stared at Ryan, then he unbuckled his seat belt and stood at his level. "And I don't think she wants to talk." He was now giving him the death stare. One of the flight attendants saw what was going on and made her way over.

"I'm sorry, but no standing, or fighting is allowed on the plane. Please get back to your seats and put your seat belts back on, gentlemen. Thank you." She said annoyed and went back to what she was doing.

Once Ryan was all the way at his chair, Jeremy quit giving him a look that gave the impression that he would kill him and sat down himself, buckling his seat belt together. He could feel a pair of eyes on him, but they weren't Ryan's.

Lacey looked at him and smiled, "Were you.. jealous?" She sat there giggling to herself as Jeremy started to give her the death stare.

"Why would I be jealous, Ms. Ford? He was clearly being rude, and you are my pretend fiance. You said to act like I loved you and I did, happy?" There he was again. The cold, heartless Mr. Matthews that Lacey despised. If the plane wasn't already in the air and ready to land, she would have taken off a long time ago.

"Oh.. right." She smiled at him weakly before turning back to the window.

_Of course he wouldn't be jealous Lacey.._

"We are about to land. Please stay seated until further notice. Thank you for flying with us." The pilot announced before they were about to descend.

_'I am so not ready for this..' _Lacey thought to herself as the plane started to make its landing. Being forced to take her only one week vacation off with her "fake" fiance, AKA her boss, wasn't really what she was aiming. Especially considering the fact that he was a total asswipe that didn't care about people's feelings besides his own. What she really wasn't ready for was meeting his family and pretending that he was married. If they knew the truth, they'd be crushed, but it seemed as if their feelings didn't really matter either.


	4. Kiss Her

The two of them walked out of the tunnel and Lacey sighed a huge sigh of relief. She survived her first ever plane ride!

"Thank The Lord!" Lacey yelled aloud as other travelers looked at her as if she were crazy. But she didn't care, she was finally off that damn plane!

Jeremy stood there chuckling at her weirdness, "People are staring.." He whispered to her as she danced around a bit.

"Ahhh, I love the ground." She then realized that she drew a little crowd towards her, which suddenly made her stop prancing like an idiot, "Okay, I'll stop."

"Good, because that was not a pretty sight." Jeremy smirked over at her before picking up his bags from the luggage dispenser. Lacey was offended.

"Wha- I happen to be a great dancer Mr. Matthews!" She exclaimed with her hands on her hips.

He raised his eyebrow and shook his head, "Oh really, Ms. Ford?"

"Yes, really, just watc-" Lacey was about to bust a move in front of her boss when they heard someone yelling Jeremy's name.

Coming from behind the conveyor belt was Jeremy's mom who had a huge smile plastered on her face. Jeremy's eyes grew wider as his mom came closer and closer, with his brother following behind her. "Jeremy! Oh how we've missed you!" She hugged him and Lacey saw a genuine true smile on his face.

"Mom, hey!" Jeremy had a questioning look on his face, "What are you guys doing here?"

"I haven't seen you in over five months, Jeremiah! I wanted to be the first to see you!" She continued to hug him until she made eye contact with a girl standing behind her oldest son. "You must be Lacey! Oh, Jer has told me many nice things about you!" She hugged Lacey so tight that she couldn't breathe! _'Jer? How adorable!'_ Lacey thought to herself as his mom continued to shake her around. Once she finally let go, Lacey was finally able to get a few words out.

"He has? Well, it's so nice to meet you, Mrs. Matthews!" The two smiled at each other.

"Oh, call me Jenna, or mom for that matter!" Jeremy's mom laughed as she continued to get to know who future "daughter-in-law".

Jeremy smiled at the two conversing and saw his little brother, Jake, standing behind their mother.

"Lacey, this is my brother, Jake." Lacey turned to him and shook his hand as Jake did the same. He was a spitting image of Jeremy, except he had lighter hair and a smaller nose, but he was good looking as well.

"Wow, bro, you picked a good one!" Jake whispered to Jeremy, who elbowed his 19 year old brother in the gut.

"We should get going, everyone is waiting!" Jeremy's mother motioned for them to hurry up so they could get back to their house.

"Everyone? What do you mean everyone?" Jeremy asked confused, but his mother didn't say a word.

"Help your fiancee with those bags, will you honey? You can't expect her to carry those heavy things!" Lacey tried picking up all her bags at once.

Jeremy looked over at her, "She's fine, she won't let me help her because she thinks women are just as strong as men, so I don't argue with that." Lacey furrowed her eyebrows at that lie. But she did believe that women were just as strong as men.

"We better hurry along then!" His mother exclaimed as she made her way towards the exit. Jeremy grabbed his own luggage and let Lacey hold her own, which was quite a challenge because she had her purse, along with a duffle bag and a rolling luggage. _'What a gentleman! Not!'_

* * *

The four of them arrived into Westfir almost 3 hours later, but the ride there was quite interesting. Lacey learned a few more things about her "fiance" she definitely didn't expect. Like how he was captain and quarterback of his football team in highschool, and that he was a really great writer. Okay, well his job position already explained that, but he wrote poetry as well.

"Mother, you know it wasn't necessary to pick us up, we were going to have a cab pick us up and take us to our hotel room." Jeremy said as he looked over at his mom who sat in the front seat.

"Hotel, schmotel! You're old room is still as good as it was before! And why would you wanna pay for a hotel room when you have a place to stay that's free!" Mrs. Matthews laughed as she pulled up to the driveway of a beautiful and gigantic house.

"Wow, this is beautiful!" Lacey's eyes were amazed as she stepped out of the car. The house was some what alienated from all the smaller houses. It sat right next to a lake that had a dock leading to a boat. The weather was perfect, with the sun shining bright, glimmering off the water. Who knew such a small town could have such a beautiful sight like this!

"Let's head inside, everyone has been waiting to see Jeremy and meet you as well, Lacey!" His mom left them behind and made her way into the house.

"Who's everybody, Jake?" Jeremy asked as he grabbed his and Lacey's bags out of the trunk.

"Nana, Aunt Linda, Uncle Greg, Tracy, Dylan.." He kept going, but Jeremy was just shocked that his mother had invited so many people over for something that wasn't even real. "There's too many people to name, why don't we just go inside?" Lacey nodded as she followed Jake towards the house.

She realized that no one was following behind her; when she looked back, Jeremy stood there in a daze.

"You coming?" She adjusted her duffle bag on her shoulder before he realized that they were already headed towards the house. He threw his bag over his shoulder and grabbed his suitcase.

"Yeah, right behind you guys." He started making his way up to the house as well.

* * *

Once the three of them walked into the house, they were welcomed by probably 30 or more guests and a little bit of confetti.

"Welcome home, Jeremy!" Was what almost everyone had shouted out, along with, "And welcome to the family, Lacey!" It was such a nice gesture, and everyone seemed kind. It made Lacey wonder why Mr. Matthews was so arrogant and rude.

"Hey Jeremy!" Jeremy's cousin, Dylan, walked over and hugged him. He looked over at Lacey and his eyes widened, "You reeled in a beautiful one here! I'm Dylan." He lent out his hand for her to shake.

"Thank you, and I see handsomeness runs in the family!" She laughed and poked Jeremy in the arm. Dylan gave an approving look to Jeremy.

"Oh, she's definitely a keeper! Nice meeting you, Lacey." Dylan gave Jeremy a pat on the shoulder then made his way into two kitchen.

Many of Jeremy's relatives came and welcomed him back home and introduced themselves to Lacey. They were more than kind, always complimenting her on how pretty she was and that Jeremy and her looked great together. _What..?_

But the person who really caught her attention was Jeremy's grandmother. She was able to put a smile on anyone's face, including Jeremy's. He probably had the biggest smile on whenever he talked to her. Lacey stood there talking to Jeremy's mom in the kitchen when his grandmother called everyone into the living room. Jeremy walked over next to Lacey as his grandmother stood in front of the two.

"I just want to say that my little Jer is getting married! Finally, after 25 years! But I'm so proud of you." A smile grew on his face. He looked over at Lacey and placed his arm around her. It looked like the two were in love, according to the others. "You've grown into such a great, handsome man, and I couldn't be more happier. To the soon to be bride and groom!" She raised her bottle of water, while everyone else raised their glasses of wine or bottles of beer, and gave a toast.

"To Jeremy and Lacey!" Everyone cheered as Lacey smiled up at Jeremy. Then the unexpected happened...

"Give her a kiss, Jeremy!" Everybody else seemed to love the idea, because almost all of them were egging him on to do it.

"Kiss her!" His grandmother yelled out.

"Uh- I don't know-" Jeremy tried to stop _it _from taking place.

"Plant one on her already! Don't be shy!" Lacey looked around as all of his relatives rooted them on.

"We'll make it quick." Jeremy quickly whispered to her as she tried to stop her jaw from dropping. _He was.. agreeing to it?_ She quickly nodded.

Their heads grew closer as everyone started hollering and clapping, as if this were the Super Bowl or something. Lacey's eyes started to close and so did Jeremy's, and once their eyes were completely shut, their lips touched. Lacey expected it to be a quick peck on the lips, but it wasn't. She felt his hand touch her back and he held her as they continued to kiss. Once they let go, Lacey's eyes slowly opened and she saw Jeremy looking down at her. She tilted her head away from his and put three fingers over her lips. She then realized that there was a crowd watching and she flew back to reality. All of his relatives smiled as the two parted from each other's hold.

"Okay, okay, that's enough." Jeremy turned around and chuckled as everyone went back to the party and headed to different parts of the house. He turned back to look at Lacey, but saw that she was headed towards the bathroom and had just shut the door.

"Oh my god, I just kissed my boss! I just kissed my boss.. I think I'm gonna faint.. this cannot be happening!" She paced back and forth in the small bathroom. "I just kissed Mr. Matthews." She leaned her back against the door and started to bang her head against it. "He's probably laughing about it in his mind! But he was a good kisser.. No, Lacey, snap out of it! And stop talking to yourself!" Lacey took in a deep breathe, made sure she had nothing in her teeth, and walked out of the bathroom.

She closed the door to the bathroom and looked around for Jeremy. Everyone had started to leave, considering that it was already seven at night.. wow, time was flying fast already for Lacey. Jeremy's mom was standing by the door thanking everyone for coming.

"Thank you guys! Yeah, I'll call you all again when Jake gets engaged! Hahaha! Bye!" She giggled as she shut the door. "Oh, Lacey thank you so much for visiting! I've got so many things in store for you to do here!"

"Thank you for letting me stay here, it's so serene. I really like it here." Lacey smiled as Jeremy walked in from the kitchen on his phone.

"Jeremy does too, ever since he was a little kid you could not keep this boy inside the house! That probably changed since he moved to the East coast and got a job as a newspaper writer!" She laughed as Jeremy hung up his phone and placed it in his pocket. Lacey nodded, agreeing. Moving to New Jersey must have really changed him and made him an angry person.

"It's getting late, we should all hit the hay." Nana walked by as she pulled Lacey and Jeremy up the stairs. She stopped in front of a door, let go of the two, opened the door, and pushed the two inside. "Goodnight!" She smiled at the two while closing the door behind them.

"Mom, what was that?" Jeremy's mom asked as the two started to walk towards their own bedrooms.

His grandmother turned towards his mom, "We both know they're not going to be sleeping tonight, don't we honey." She smiled as she walked into her bedroom. "Besides, don't you want grandchildren? I love mine!" The both of them smiled. "Plus, I think the two of them will make some cute babies!" She laughed as she started closing the door.

"Good night, mom! Crazy woman.." Jeremy's mom walked into her room and shut the door.

* * *

Jeremy undid his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. Lacey grabbed her pajamas out of her bag, and as she turned around she saw her boss about to fully take off his shirt.

"Mr. Matthews!" He quickly turned around to face her.

"What?" He stared at her with tired and annoyed eyes.

She crossed her arms, "Can't you wait until I get to the restroom before going all Magic Mike on me?" She started to make her way towards the restroom.

Once she had closed the door, he grabbed a few pillows from his old bed and tossed them to the floor, along with one of his old blankets. He walked towards his drawer and pulled out some clothes. He changed into one of his old t-shirts from high school and some black sweatpants, while looking at the pictures that were framed on top of the drawer. There was a picture of him and his father when Jeremy was a little boy, he smiled a little before his face turned cold. He flipped the picture face down, when Lacey opened the door to the bathroom just a smidge.

"Mr. Matthews.. pssst.." He turned towards the bathroom and saw her peeking out of the tiny crack she left open.

He moved closer as she told him to stop. "What happened, Ms. Ford? Is there a bug in there?" He sighed.

"No.. I, uh, I forgot to bring a shirt for sleeping.." She quietly answered, feeling quite embarrassed that she didn't pack any shirts for going to bed. She obviously was surprised by this whole thing that she wasn't thinking straight when she was packing.

He scoffed while laughing and walked back over to his drawer. He grabbed another old shirt of his and walked over to Lacey, handing it to her.

She grabbed it and quickly smiled at him, "Thank you." She threw it on really fast and closed the door. She looked at herself in the mirror, admiring his shirt that read 'Truman Football' on the front with 'Matthews' on the back. It looked good on her, especially with her shorts and how it seemed to cover up most of it. If someone else were to see, they would have thought the two were dating! She realized she was thinking of him in that way and made herself snap out of it while turning the knob. She walked out to see Jeremy walking across the room.

"I made your bed on the floor, Ms. Ford, I hope you don't mind." He looked at her and sat down on his bed. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him.

"You really expect me to sleep on the floor? You are such a gentleman.." She scoffed at him, obviously annoyed.

He grabbed the penny on his dresser next to the lamp and turned towards her. "Fine, we'll flip for it, okay? Call it." As he tossed the coin in the air, she called out heads. He grabbed the penny and placed it on the back of his hand. Removing his hand, it revealed Abraham Lincoln's face. Lacey grinned at him as he lazily moved off the bed and onto the floor. She pulled the blanket over herself as she looked over at him.

"Good night, Jer."She grinned down at him. He looked up at her and smiled sarcastically before she turned off the light.

She couldn't help it, it was such an adorable nick name.


	5. Call Me Mom

Lacey could hear laughter coming from downstairs, and once she got out of Jeremy's room, she could hear him making a joke. _He was laughing.. That's a first!_ She started making her way down the first steps as they turned around and looked at her. Jeremy went back to the serious boss mode Lacey saw almost everyday.

"Good morning, Lacey!" Jeremy's mother and grandmother greeted her as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Or should I say good afternoon!"

Lacey looked at the clock. 11:48. "I didn't know I slept that long. But good afternoon!" She smiled at the three of them as Jeremy's family stared at him and back at Lacey.

He waited a good minute before asking what the hell they were staring at. "What?"

"Honey, aren't you gonna give your fiancee a kiss?" They all waited for him as Lacey stood there. It's not like she wanted him to, but might as well put on a good performance, right?

"Right.. I was going to." He walked past the counter and over to Lacey, then planted a small kiss on her cheek. "Good afternoon." He looked at her as she slightly smiled.

"Good afternoon, Jeremy." He smiled back at her, thinking she was going to return the favor, but his mother had interrupted.

"Well, I have to get going to work. When I get back, I'll have a surprise for you guys!" She clapped her hands, "Let's go, mom, I'll drop you off at the store." Nana and Jeremy's mom walked out the door, leaving Lacey and Jeremy alone.

His phone started vibrating off of the counter. "I'm gonna take this." He took off to the patio and left Lacey standing by herself. She figured she might as well see this whole house while she's got the time.

She walked into the living and the pictures on top of the fireplace caught her attention. A little smile unraveled on her face as she looked at the first frame. It was of Nana holding Jake and Jeremy when they were younger. The two of them could pass as twins if they were the same age. She moved onto the next picture; Jeremy's mom was holding Jake as a baby, or it looked like Jake. It could've been Jeremy but she honestly didn't know. The picture in the middle was probably from this year or last year. It was of Jeremy, his mom, and his brother. The two of them hugged her as she sat down in the middle between them. The fourth picture was of Jeremy and Jake riding bicycles, at around the age of Jeremy being 11 or 12. And the last picture was of some guy holding Jeremy as a kid, as Jeremy was holding onto the guy. She looked closer at it as Jeremy walked in behind her.

Lacey turned to face him, "Who's the guy in this last picture with you?" She pointed directly at the last frame. Jeremy looked and didn't really say anything. He just shrugged.

"No one." He said coldly before looking at his watch. He sighed, "Look, I have to go fax some papers to the office, Ms. Ford. Do whatever you want, I'll probably be done in an hour." He nodded at her before heading upstairs to his mom's office.

Of course he'd be doing work things instead of spending time with her.. well, they weren't actually together, were they now?

She sighed loudly, what was she supposed to do in a house that wasn't hers? And she was getting really curious about the guy in the picture. It could have been his dad, but it might not have been. Jeremy's dad wasn't at the party yesterday, and Jeremy never mentioned anything about him, so she wasn't exactly sure.

"Oh, The Notebook!" She saw the DVD case sitting on top of the coffee table and popped it into the DVD player. She took a seat on the couch and let the movie play. Who didn't love Ryan Gosling?

* * *

The movie was halfway through when Jeremy walked into the living room.

"Ms. Ford, about that new building article, did they even start building it?" He held a stack of papers and stood behind the couch waiting for her to answer. "Ms. Ford, are you even listening to me?" He walked around the couch to look directly at her, but she was totally knocked out. The girl could sleep all day if she could, "And you're asleep."

He looked at her and how a few strands of her hair fell over her face. Jeremy sat down on the coffee table and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her sleeping. He moved one of the strands of her from her face and placed it behind her ear. He then realized what he was doing and cleared his throat, standing up quickly. He let her sleep and went back to doing his work.

* * *

_"I think our love can do anything we want it to." _The ending of the movie was playing out as Lacey's eyes slowly opened.

She looked at her phone and saw that it was 3:12, "I fell asleep?"

"Yeah you did. How many times are you going to fall asleep today?" Jeremy stood against the wall and looked at Lacey.

"Be quiet. And I fell asleep while watching my boyfriend on tv.. I practically missed the whole movie!"

Jeremy chuckled as he walked over and sat down at the coffee table again, sitting right in front of her. He still held his papers and a pen in his hands, "Hey, I was trying to ask you a while ago about the new building article, but you were sound asleep, when are they-"

"I'm home!" Jeremy's mother walked through the front door and saw the two sitting face to face. When was he going to stop being interrupted? "You two are just the cutest, you know that?" Jeremy gave his mom a half smile as Lacey nodded.

"I think Jeremy does a pretty good job at that by himself!" she giggled, and grabbed his free hand, lacing her fingers with his. Lacey focused on Jenna, while Jeremy looked at his hand. That's all he was focused on. Her hand in his, it seemed like it fit perfectly. It wasn't until she let go that he remembered it was just an act for his mom.

She stood up and looked at him as he sat there quietly, "Are you coming? You're mom wants to take us to do something fun and crazy."

"My mom wants to do something fun and crazy? Wow, she never wanted to do something like that when I was still living with her." Jeremy stood up and raised an eyebrow.

"I guess you just have to find the right person to bring out a different side of you." She looked at him and smiled. She made her way upstairs to get ready.

He stood there thinking about that, then walked upstairs to put his papers away.

* * *

"Where are we going? Can we please have a hint." Lacey moved forward and asked Jeremy's mother.

"She won't even tell me where we're going." Jake looked back at Lacey from the front seat.

"Why the sudden interest in doing outrageous stuff?" Jeremy questioned her, looking at her from the rear view mirror.

"Relax, you three, we're here!" She put the car in park and got out of the car. Lacey looked out of the window and saw nothing in sight, except for a bridge and a lake.

The four of them got out of the car; Jeremy looked up at the bridge and his eyes widened in horror.

"Mom.. are we going bun-" Jeremy started.

"Bungee jumping, awesome!" Jake interrupted, heading towards the path leading up to the bridge.

Lacey stood there terrified, "Oh my god. I'm going to die for sure this time. Did I mention I was afraid of heights?" He started his way up as well as Lacey was glued to the exact same spot.

"Come on, Ms. Ford. My mom may never get to do this, or want to, ever again. It's nice to see her happy." He encouraged Lacey, but all she looked at was how high that damn bridge was

_This was all too crazy.. _

He walked back next to her and grabbed her hand, just like how she grabbed his hand earlier that day.

"I'm right here." He smiled at her. Who was this Jeremy and why was he being so nice to her? She nodded as he led the way up.

"Welcome! Are you guys ready for the time of your lives?" The bungee instructor said gladly as the four of them approached him.

"Yes! I'm ready!" Jenna said excited as the instructor nodded. Jeremy could not believe his mother was doing something insane like this.

It took Lacey a while to adjust to the fact that she was about to jump off a bridge, but she thought this could be a good experience.

Taking in a deep breathe, she finally came to a conclusion, "Let's do it." She smiled slightly as Jenna's face lightened up. Jeremy turned to her with a surprised look on his face.

Jeremy looked at her and still held her hand, "Let's do it." Lacey looked up at him and a grin overcame her face.

"Alright!" the instructor clapped his hands together, "We have to pair you guys up, just for your guy's safety."

"Great! I can go with Jake and you two can go together!" She faced towards the "couple", "Me and Jake will go first." The instructor got the two of them suited up and ready to jump. Lacey stood at the middle of the bridge and looked down.

"Are you two ready?" The instructor asked the two of them.

"Ready!" Jake said as the instructor nodded.

"Okay, then just let yourselves fall!" Jake and Jenna held onto each other tightly and tilted themselves off the bridge. Jeremy was a little worried.. What if his mom had a heart attack while she was falling? As they grew distant from the bridge, Jeremy placed his hand on his forehead and started panicking.

"You think she'll be okay? They won't get hurt will they?!" He questioned as the instructor laughed at him. Lacey saw the look of terror in his eyes and giggled a bit. It was nice to see him worried about someone he cared about so much.

"See for yourselves." He pointed down at Jeremy's mom and brother. They were screaming, but not terrified screams. They were enjoying it and Jeremy didn't know if he could go through with it.

"Awesome, now you two next." He started buckling their straps on. Lacey bit her lip and kept looking at how far down she was about to throw herself. Was she really about to bungee jump? "Once you guys are ready, just hold on to each other and free fall!" He pushed the two closer together so that they were hugging each other.

"If I die, it's all your fault." Lacey said as the side of her face rested on his chest. He chuckled as he held onto her even tighter.

Jeremy and Lacey started to push off of the bridge until they couldn't feel it beneath their feet anymore. That's when they both realized they were doing something so crazy that they started to scream.

"Ahhhhhhhh! Oh my god!" She screamed as they shot back up towards the sky.

They started going lower and lower and the two just kept screaming in horror.

When they got closer to the ground, they started to slow down and eventually the rope stopped moving.

"Holy shit! That was crazy!" Jeremy yelled out loud as they hung there in mid-air. Lacey still held on tightly to him, closing her eyes.

"I cannot believe we just did that!" She laughed as they hung there upside down, "I just bungee jumped off a bridge!" Her eyes widened, she could not believe she was turning into such a dare devil today.

Jeremy liked this look on her face, she was smiling and laughing; something she never did towards him. They were being reeled back in when Lacey realized that she had to let go of him.. _Wait, why would she even want to hold on?!_

Once they were pulled back up to the top, Jeremy's mom and Jake stood there excited that they just bungee jumped off a bridge for the first time ever.

"Wasn't that a thrill!" Jenna clasped her hands together as they made their way down the trail back to the car.

"I never imagined, in my entire life, that I would go do something like bungee jumping!" Lacey looked over at Jenna, "Thank you for that, Mrs. Matthews." She hugged her and a smile grew on Jenna's face.

"Anything for my soon to be daughter!" The smile on Lacey's face faded a little as she said those words. "and don't call me Mrs. Matthews, it brings back too many memories, call me mom!" Jenna laughed as they got back into the car.

_Brings back memories?_

Lacey then remembered that this was all just pretend and remembered the Jeremy who treated her like shit because she was his assistant. He was probably just pretending to be nice to her just to impress his family and make it seem as if he's a good fiancé.

The sun started to set as they made their way back to the house.


End file.
